Word Count: 1303
"You still haven't told me how you can fight with your eyes closed!" Noona challenged the lion and he raised his eyes heavenwards. Now that she had been around him for a number of days she had grown braver. She knew that deep down he was gentle and only attacked when given the grounds to do so. As such, she now had her reason as to why he hadn't struck her down when she had run into him - she hadn't done it out of malice, she was just clumsy.
Over the last few days she had learnt a lot about him and she had finally accepted that he was not a messenger of the gods. It had taken a considerable amount of persuasion but eventually she had come to appreciate that he was mortal just like her. It had helped that over the course of the last few days they had also passed a number of lions as well, indicating that he was not in fact alone in the world. Granted he was much bigger than some of them but further prodding had allowed her to discover that lions differed in size based on where they came from.
...He was from colder climates but with much rockier and awkward terrain, thus he needed the bulk to survive. Whereas the smaller lions came from the slopes or climates where resources were scarce. She'd never realised such concepts existed until recently and much to her surprise, they all madesense. All in all it was truly fascinating and she was able to keep herself entertained for hours on end, puttering off constantly to examine new things before darting after Gideon who she had quickly adopted as her 'go-to guy'.
Truth be told, she wasn't sure he appreciated the gesture.
Nevertheless he seemed to tolerate her and even now as she pestered him about his combat techniques he exuded so much patience that he would have put a monk to shame. Unfortunately it also appeared that he wasn't going to answer (again) but then he surprised her, adjusting his weight so that he was more comfortable as he based in the sun. His lips then pursed and following another sigh he finally gave her the explanation she was looking for.
"I'm a seer," he explained and cleared his throat. "I have the ability to see what will happen in the future," he paused and gave her a few moments to register this. "Snap shots, brief seconds of what may happen if I don't react in the right way, but enough time for me to plan and prepare," he glanced at the cheetah who was frowning in the same way that she always did when something made absolutely zero sense to her. She was easily confused but she also learnt very quickly when given the opportunity to do so. "However I can only perform such actions with my eyes closed, otherwise I don't receive those snapshots and I enter such encounters completely blind," he added.
"And the singing...?" Noona asked hesitantly, not quite understanding how it added up.
"It helps me to time everything properly," he replied with a hint of a smile. She'd been obsessed with his humming since she had first witnessed him dispatch of her pursuers during the games and even now she still queried it. She had yet to realise that he wasn't singing anything in particular, merely words that prompted him into particular actions or permitted him to time an attack.
"Oh, so it's nothing ritualistic then," she concluded, seemingly disappointed. "But it always sounds as if it is!"
"Depends on your definition of 'ritual', Noona," he pointed out and chuckled. "A ritual is merely a set routine that happens to be done repetitively because an individual believes in what it can achieve - so in a manner of speaking it would be ritualistic."
"But it doesn't do anything to the opponent."
"Other than disturbing them a little - not really," Gideon remarked and waved his paw slowly. "I have claws for that," he added causing her to regard her own paws uncertainly. It was one of the things he had noticed about her, a lack of self confidence that always crept up when another made reference to their own physical form and the benefits it had. She obviously didn't appreciate her lithe form or seemingly didn't understand the uses it had... he'd need to make a mental note to have a race with her one of these days.
She'd win and that would be exactly the sort of boost she needed!
That being said, he had also noted that she had incredibly puffy paws too and he wasn't entirely sure she even had claws. Either that or she had blunted them down through anxiety, he'd known a few lions that did that and it had taken them an age to correct that.
"So...have you always been a Seer then? I don't really know what that is but it sounds useful," she concluded.
"I didn't know I was a seer until I was a juvenile," he smoothed over how he had discovered this fact out and shrugged. "Some never know they're seers, others know about it instantly, some discover it through small events and others are completely overwhelmed. Regardless it can be a burden or highly useful depending on how the gift reveals itself to the one who receives it."
"Oh," she mused.
"If you must know mine only appears in light of combat, if I am not in combat or threatened in that respect then I see nothing."
"So you couldn't tell me what I'm having for dinner next Tuesday then," she joked and he lifted a brow before motioning to the Savannah.
"No, but I could hazard a guess," he teased as he regarded each of the preybeasts and took note of what she could realistically take down alone. However it was at this point that he did something expected and pondered what she could taken down with him present. It was an unexpected turn of events and he wrinkled his nose at his own behaviour, it was not in his nature to become attached to anything, especially not this quickly.
"Hare?" she offered tentatively and then tilted her head to the side, "Or not..." she added taking note of his expression.
"Hmmm?" he blinked and shook his head. "Uh no, too small," he replied and then motioned to one of the passing zebra. "That would be more likely."
"It's huge!"
"That's normal prey!" he seemed surprised at the forcefulness in his voice and then caught himself. Was she honestly informing him that the largest meal she had ever had was a hare of some description? He was beginning to wonder how her clan/community or whatever the hell it was managed to survive. "Explain to me how you managed to feed yourselves in the jungle?"
"We had hunters, they would bring back birds, hares -"
"But they're all tiny..." he marvelled and then shook his head abruptly. "And boney," he wrinkled his nose again and then snorted. "Surely you know what this means..." he mused and turned his gaze back to the Cheetah expectantly, a tiny note of satisfaction flickering in the back of his mind as she became anxious.
"What...?" she whispered.
"I'm going to have to show you what a real meal is, that means a gazelle at the very least!"
"I don't know what that is," she pointed out and he smirked.
"You will by the time I'm finished," he murmured reassuringly and turned his gaze back towards the preybeasts. Perhaps this would be the perfect opportunity for her to realise her own talents too, because if he was going to fell a gazelle, he was going to need someone quick on their paws...
